A trial date has been set for next year for the London man accused of deliberately running down and killing four members of a Muslim family.
Nathaniel Veltman, 21, appeared in Superior Court assignment court by telephone on Tuesday. He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in last June’s hit-and-run that left four members of the Afzaal family dead and a fifth injured.
The case will go to trial on September 5, 2023, with the Crown and Veltman’s defence lawyer Christopher Hicks being advised to set aside 12 weeks for the proceedings.
A representative appearing on behalf of Hicks during Tuesday’s appearance told the court the defence will be seeking a change of venue. That motion will be heard virtually on June 13 and 14, 2022. If successful, the change of venue would see the trial held in a jurisdiction outside of London.
Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance will preside over both the change of venue hearing and the trial.
Other pretrial motions will be held in May and September of this year.
Veltman, who has been in custody at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre since his June arrest, said little during Tuesday’s appearance.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Afzaal and 9-year-old son Fayez Salman, and Salman Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother Talat Afzaal were out for an evening walk on June 6 of last year when a pickup truck mounted the curb at Hyde Park and South Carriage roads and hit them before speeding off. Fayez Salman was the lone survivor of the attack.
Veltman was arrested shortly after the family was struck, roughly seven kilometers from the collision scene. London police have said there is evidence the attack was a planned, premeditated act motivated by hate and prosecutors allege the deadly hit-and-run constitutes an act of terrorism.
The attack visibly shook Londoners, especially those from within the Muslim community, and caught the attention of the nation. A vigil held outside of the London Muslim Mosque in the days that followed the incident drew more than 10,000 people, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. In February, city politicians voted unanimously to endorse a wide-ranging strategy to combat Islamophobia. Among the recommendations put forward in the plan is the creation of a permanent memorial at the site of the attack to honour the memory of the Afzaal family.
